Auckland

A power failure blacked out the downtown area of New Zealand's largest city again Sunday, just a month and a half after it endured five weeks of electrical cuts due to cable failures. A fire in a cable was blamed for the latest outage in Auckland, unrelated to the series of power cable failures that dimmed downtown in February and March. Sunday's 50-minute blackout was more extensive than the earlier mishaps, angering many businesses after knocking out power to a major commercial strip and...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - John Isner claimed his second Auckland Open title with a 7-6(4) 7-6(7) victory over an inspired Lu Yen-Hsun in a tight final at the Australian Open warm-up event on Saturday. The tall American crashed down 23 aces but it was always going to take more than just his big serve to corral the Taiwanese, who put on a brilliant display of shot-making in his first ATP final. While Lu ultimately came up short in his first final, Spanish qualifier Garbine Muguruza...

By Nick Mulvenney SYDNEY, Jan 10 (Reuters) - David Ferrer's progress towards a fourth title at the Australian Open warm-up in Auckland became a strut on Thursday when the world number five swept aside Lukas Lacko 6-2 6-1 to reach the semi-finals. The Spaniard, who will be seeded fourth at Melbourne Park next week in the absence of compatriot Rafa Nadal, needed just 54 minutes to beat the Slovakian and set up a semi-final against German Philipp Kohlschreiber. ...

By Greg Stutchbury WELLINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) - New Zealand and England head into the final match of their three-test series on Friday more evenly matched than many observers felt they were at the start after the second game ended in a damp draw on Monday. Bad weather has played a significant part with around 100 overs lost because of rain in the first match in Dunedin and more than 150 wiped out in the second in Wellington as both contests ended in draws. ...

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Ana Ivanovic claimed her first WTA Tour title in more than two years with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 victory over fellow former world number one Venus Williams to clinch the Auckland Classic on Saturday and boost her confidence ahead of the Australian Open. The 26-year-old Serbian had not won a title since she completed a 6-3 6-0 victory over Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues in Bali at the end of 2011. Against the seven-times grand slam champion Ivanovic, at times,...

As another delay to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner looms, United Airlines has postponed the start of service from Houston to Auckland, New Zealand, the first North American flight slated to feature the groundbreaking jet. The new United had planned to begin those flights on Nov. 16, initially under the brand of merger partner Continental Airlines, said Julie King, spokeswoman for the Chicago-based carrier. But with uncertainty shrouding the 787's commercial debut, the...

Dec 11 (Reuters) - Raja Casablanca, representing host nation Morocco, needed a stoppage-time goal from Abdelilah Hafidi to beat part-timers Auckland City 2-1 in the preliminary round match at the Club World Cup on Wednesday. The game was heading for extra time until Mohamed Oulhaj's header was saved by Tamati Williams and fell to the feet of Hafidi who tapped in the rebound to send the Agadir Stadium into delirium. Raja, who fired coach Mohamed Fakhir and...

May 19 (Reuters) - Two goals in four first half minutes were enough for Auckland City to clinch their third successive Oceania Champions League title against 10-man Waitakere United on Sunday. The 2-1 victory ensured at least a $500,000 payday for the Auckland side and entry to the lucrative FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco in December. Auckland's Adam Dickinson slotted home in the 16th minute after Waitakere goalkeeper Danny Robinson fumbled a deflected cross...

WELLINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - The Auckland Blues became the third New Zealand Super Rugby franchise to attract private investors on Friday as the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) continued to seek greater commercial return from their professional teams. The Blues will now be operated under a licensing agreement where the provincial unions Northland, Auckland and North Harbour would take a 60 percent stake with the other 40 percent sold to a private investment group. ...

A massive air and sea search was launched Sunday after the discovery of an outrigger canoe belonging to an American couple who disappeared during a voyage between Auckland and Tonga. Doug Brown, 64, and his wife, Valerie, 38, who left Auckland May 5 in their 8-meter sail-powered canoe, were two weeks overdue, authorities reported. Their canoe, built by Brown, an experienced sailor, washed ashore Saturday night on the south end of Little Barrier Island.

Auckland's streets were almost deserted Monday as workers heeded warnings of danger and stayed away from the central city, which has been without power for three days. Sirens punctured the quiet as firefighters raced to cool overheated power generators and attend to failing alarms. Most major banks and businesses remained closed. The Fire Service warned there was a "towering inferno" risk in Auckland's high rises if dwellers persisted in using small, gas-powered generators to...

A massive air and sea search was launched Sunday after the discovery of an outrigger canoe belonging to an American couple who disappeared during a voyage between Auckland and Tonga. Doug Brown, 64, and his wife, Valerie, 38, who left Auckland May 5 in their eight-meter sail-powered canoe, were two weeks overdue, authorities reported. Their canoe, built by Brown, an experienced sailor, washed ashore Saturday night on the south end of Little Barrier Island. Police Inspector Barry...